Out of all the candy bars, I would have to say the Twix bar is pretty high on my favorites list. So, when I saw this recipe for an alternative take on the classic candy bar, I just had to try.
I got this recipe from Bigger Bolder Baking YouTube channel, which labeled this as guilt-free. In addition to being guilt-free, the bars are gluten-free and vegan friendly! Allowing them to be shared by a wider audience is always a plus for me when baking.
There are three parts to this bar, the shortbread, caramel, and chocolate. You layer them one on top of the other. So, you bake the shortbread, cool, add caramel, refrigerate for a bit, and then add the chocolate. It takes around an hour to make; the shortbread bakes for around 15 mins, and the caramel sets for about 30 mins.
One thing to note, you WILL NEED parchment paper for this. As I found out, oiling/buttering does not work well. Without it, you will have a mess when it comes to cutting, as seen below, with my first attempt. The shortbread part will stick to the pan, and cutting it out will destroy the layers.
One of the main ingredients in this recipe is maple syrup. This recipe was the first time I baked with maple syrup substituting sugar, and it was interesting. I’m not too fond of maple syrup. A bit is okay on pancakes or french toast, but I am not a huge fan by itself.
To my amazement, there was not much of a taste of maple syrup, which was cool. The next surprise came in the caramel layer. I have a recipe for vegan caramel. It is my go-to caramel recipe, but this one was completely different. It utilized almond butter, maple syrup, coconut oil, vanilla, and some salt.
When I first made these bars, I tried my hand at making homemade almond butter, which proved to take a bit of effort. I was making it with my housemate, and we used his nutribullet rx, but ended up switching it up with my food processor. It took forever to make, so this time I just bought almond butter.
While I would say this looks like caramel, it does not taste like it. It is delicious, but it has a strong almond taste from the almond butter. I am debating using my go-to vegan caramel for another retry. Still, I like the almond flavor that the shortbread and almond butter mixture brings.
The top of the bar was like a magic shell, which made me very excited. I have wanted to make a homemade magic shell for a while. I ran into one problem; the chocolate would set quickly because of how cool the bottom two layers are. So, you want to make sure you work fast on spreading it.
With that said, it is hard to call this a Twix Bar, because it does not taste like one. I would describe this more of an almond delight bar or something along those lines. You have the almond flour and almond butter, which stand out in this recipe. If you like almonds, then this is the bar for you!
Check out the recipe here: https://www.biggerbolderbaking.com/healthy-homemade-twix-bars/